Excuse me , Sir , May I have the time , please ?   Beg your pardon ?   Er ... I'd like to know what time it is now .   Oh , Let me see ... It's three forty-five . Er ... wait , My watch is five minutes fast . So it should be three forty   Thank you . By the way , what day is today ?   Today is Friday . Are you new in Beijing ?   Yes , I've just come from the States , yesterday in fact . I'm still a bit confused about the time .   Welcome to Beijing . This is my business card . I'm an engineer . If you need any help in Beijing , just give me a call .   Oh , that's very nice of you . I don't want to sound pushy , but I still l have one more question .   Go ahead .   What's the date today ?   It's October the 1st , our National Day . I'd like to talk some more , but I've got to get going now . It was nice talking to you , though .   Yeah , it was nice to meet you . Hope I run into you again sometime . 